Remember that one time...

It's strange how since the age of 17, I've felt at home in this country. Crazy things happen, the language is terrifically hard, and the people are completely different from the Brits, and yet... I feel perfectly at home. I enjoy the feeling of being outside of my comfort zone. I'm so far from my comfort zone that it's hard to remember what my comfort zone ever looked like. Yet, not matter how comfortable I become, I'm still surprised by the crazy things that can happen. But anyway.... our wonderful investigator, Tina, still hasn't smoked, and still reads the Book of Mormon everyday. Sadly we couldn't meet with her last week because she was in Bucharest but we have a lesson with her tomorrow morning. The journey to Tina's is an adventure! I loves it! So I will share it with you:

Adventures with Sora Cook on the Tramvai

We say a prayer and leave the apartment. We of course take the lift, which, though small, is quite fancy for Romania. On the way out of the building we say hi to our neighbour, Alexander. He's smoking down on the porch of the building, his tall Russian hat plopped on his head, just over his bushy grey eyebrows. He tells us we're going to be late and rolls his eyes...as usual. The building cleaning lady exclaims we're not wearing enough layers. It's not too cold today! She laughs and wishes us health and a good day. Our slightly crazy neighbour, Maria, blesses us as we walk towards the Tramvai stop. My favourite... Gheorge! with his cute one tooth, and giant fluffy hat is taking a stroll around the blocks. We stop to say hi. He once again, asks me if in Scotland they speak English. I once again tell him that it's on the accent, which is different. "Oh thanks! I've been wondering!" he smiles.

We now have to rush because our Tramvai is coming. We hurry towards the Tramvai stop, past the illegal cigarette cartel, and the cute scruffy dog, across the street, and right on time, the Tramvai pulls in. We board and sit down. The homeless, drunk man smells bad so we sit nearer the front. The lady next to me glares at my nametag and before I can get a "Good Morning!" in, she moves as far from me as possible. A cute old lady boards a couple of stops in. She sits next to me. Her bright pink lipstick stains her 3 teeth and her headscarf is wrapped tightly under her chin. I speak to her a little and she thinks we're very cute. No, she doesn't want my "book" or to come to church, or to come to English classes, but how very "cute" we are. Sigh. The Tramvai gets closer to centru. The crowd starts packing in, and Sora Cook and I stand to allow the babas and the old men to sit. We're now squished into a crowd. It's a little hard to contact someone when your face is pressed up against their shoulder. As we pass centru to Bul Rosu, the Tramvai empties and we can once again sit. Usually, at this point, we go over our lesson plan for Tina. The Tramvai picks up speed as it heads to the outskirts of the city. Across the bridge, there are a couple fishermen along the banks of the big grey river.

The Tramvai slowly empties and we arrive the end of the line in Aradul Nou. The gara (train station) is small, and super muddy. But don't worry, there's a meat stand if you've been craving some raw steak. We trudge through the thick mud towards the real train tracks, away from the Tramvai line. The homeless people don't bother us, as we start our trek down the tracks. In Romania, there is no electrical rail so there’s no huge danger of crossing the railway tracks. We walk down the tracks for about 5 minutes, carefully listening out for trains, until we reach the small muddy pathway, which leads to civilization. We trek through the mud and walk down a couple streets, past the corner where we found the cute puppy about a month ago. Finally, Tina's apartment blocks are in view. We cross the road and head to the large yellow blocks with the dark red staircases. Number 24, is around the back and one flight up. We walk up the stairs and we see Tina. She waits by the window. With a huge smile she waves and runs around to open the door. It's such an amazing feeling! The smell of smoke is gone, her scriptures and liahona are out on the table and half a grapefruit is sitting on a plate for each of us. "Fetitile mele! Asteptam!" (My girls, I was waiting). Tina is so incredible. I feel so blessed every time I meet with her, just to have the privilege to be a part of her journey towards Christ.

Paula


In other news... we've started working with Paula. She's a 19 year old girl who was baptised about 2 years ago. She's been less active for quite a while and was actually hit by a Tramvai in November of last year, so she's been in and out of hospital. But now she's doing a lot better and has just started coming back to Church and meeting with us. She was raised in a Casa de Copii (children’s home/ foster home), so she has a few social issues and is super clingy. But she just needs love! And so Sora Cook and I just love her to pieces! And she adores us! She's one of the funniest people I've ever met. She was a little cheeky thing the other day after a lesson we had with her. But that night she called us and apologised for her behaviour and the next day came to institute and brought us cards to say she was sorry and how much she loved us! Oh she's just so cute! She's a tiny thing. The 8 year old boy in our branch, Manu is about the same size as her. She's really good friends with Manu actually. Her pure innocence combined with complete bluntness is amazing. Our branch mission leader Edy, has a non-member wife, Timea, who's pretty apathetic towards the church and she's very stand offish. But the other day, at institute. Paula yells to her "Hey! Why are you sitting over there by yourself?! Come sit by us!" and Timea actually listened and came over. "Do you like it here? Why are you grumpy??" Paula asked. Hahah! It was so funny and sooo blunt! But the coolest part was that Timea actually laughed and started to open up. She said she did like it but she was nervous. "Oh you don't need to be nervous!" Paula said, "These people are really nice!" It was so cute! And it was amazing to see Timea start to come out of her shell. I love how Heavenly Father uses all of us to bless the lives of others! Paula's lack of social skills became a great strength!

Remember that one time where I was being made a trainer after just 2 transfers... YEAH! So I'm a trainer starting THIS Wednesday. Sora Cook is heading to Chisinau in Moldova! I'm heartbroken to see her go, but also excited for her new adventures. I've heard that the branch is incredible there and I know she's going to be amazing there! I'm just selfishly sad, and want her to stay with me! So on this week, I'll be getting a boboaca of my own! I'm really nervous! Usually President Hill calls people to let them know that they'll be training, but nope.... I found out on Saturday as we looked up the Transfer board. I'm a trainer!! YIKES! I can't believe it. I'm still a boboaca! But I'm also excited to grow and learn from the experience and to allow the Lord to teach me as I attempt to help my boboaca to have an amazing start to her mission.

That's about all I have time for this week! I wish I had more time so I could tell you all about the things I've learnt in my scripture study this week! I've been reading more in my "Prayer" themed Book of Mormon. I've been reading about Ammon, and Alma and Amulek. They were the most incredible missionaries and I've been learning from their example different ways in which I can improve as a missionary! :)

This church is true! and I know that I'm exactly where the Lord needs me to be! I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet! and I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God!

Keep the Faith

Sora Rivera